US firm sets up welding consumables facility in Chennai

The US-based welding consumables product company Lincoln Electric inaugurated its $20-million plant near Chennai Monday.

The 100,000 square feet plant in Mahindra World City, a special economic zone (SEZ), has an initial production capacity of 15,000 tonnes per annum.


"The Chennai plant is an important investment for Lincoln in the expanding market for welding products in India," Lincoln chairman and chief executive John M. Stropki told reporters while inaugurating the facility.

The new plant will manufacture solid welding wire used in industry segments like such as heavy equipment, metal buildings, pipeline and windmills.

Agencies

Has Accenture sacked half Manila workforce?

US-based outsourcing firm Accenture is laying off almost half its workforce in the Philippine capital due to the effects of the global financial crisis, the Labour Department said.

Accenture Philippines has filed a notice of retrenchment for about 500 workers at its facilities in Manila, said Labour Undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

Accenture, which engages in business process outsourcing, including call centres, had about a thousand workers in Manila and in March 2008 it opened an office in the central city of Cebu which employs about 500 people.

Call centres and other outsourced business processes have become a major industry in the Philippines. Industry leaders had previously predicted that the sector would not be affected by the global financial turmoil as companies in developed countries would outsource more of their functions abroad to save money during the crisis.

Agencies